Tempe redoubles its vaccination effort as Delta variant takes hold

The city of Tempe is taking a data-driven approach to vaccinate its hardest hit and hardest to reach ZIP code in order to achieve the elusive goal of herd immunity.

The ZIP code 85281, a large portion of which is inhabited by Arizona State University’s swarms of college students, is the lowest vaccinated of Tempe’s four codes. It’s also the city’s youngest, as well as the ZIP code with the highest number of COVID-19 cases, making it a target for the city’s big vaccination push.

According to the city, just 44.5% of people residing in 85281 have been fully vaccinated. That’s low, especially compared with the 53% vaccinated in 85282, 51.3% in 85283 and 67.8% in 85284. Approximately 55.5% of people in Arizona have been vaccinated to date.